by K. J. Dahlen
Gator looked like he wanted to say something but didn’t. He could only hope Deke would let her explain before he blew up at her.
~* * * *~
Later that afternoon, Cassie was back at the clubhouse when the guys got back. She was working in the kitchen with Reva when Deke came in. “Did you and Reva set up a schedule for the barbeque this weekend?”
Cassie glanced at Reva quickly and flushed a bit. “Um, no we haven’t had a chance to talk about it yet.”
“I thought Gator told me this morning he asked her to let you know.”
“I haven’t had a chance, Deke,” Reva told him. “It’s been a little crazy around here today.”
Deke glared at Reva and said, “Don’t make excuses for her.” Then he turned around and stomped off.
Cassie looked confused. “What was all that about?”
Reva just shrugged and went back to work.
Cassie was a bit unsettled. Every time she looked at Deke, Gator or Deacon, they returned her gaze with a glare. Finally, she’d had enough. Rather than confront the problem, she went to Deke’s room and slammed the door.
Deke reached for his drink and glared at the door.
“Why don’t you just ask her about it?” Deacon suggested.
“I shouldn’t have to ask her about this sort of shit,” Deke grumbled as he poured another drink.
Gator and Reva watched as Deke downed the liquor. Both knew that much alcohol and Deke’s temper very often was not a good combination.
Everyone in the clubhouse tonight felt the tension. They all made an early night of it and soon, only Reva, Gator, Deacon and Deke were in the main room.
Finally, Deacon couldn’t stand it anymore and he got up. Walking down the hall, he knocked on Deke’s door and waited for Cassie to answer. A moment later, the door opened and he went inside.
He was there for about ten minutes and when he came back out he didn’t say a word. Gator had seen his jaw muscle twitch, so he had a feeling what transpired hadn’t been to his liking. Gator got to his feet and pulled Reva to hers. “See you in the morning boss.”
~* * * *~
Deke watched them go, then turned his head toward the bedroom door. Without knocking, he threw the door open am it banged against the wall.
Cassie was in bed already, facing away from him and there was a bag packed at the foot of the bed.
“Are you going somewhere?” Deke asked.
“Maybe,” she told him. “It depends on you, doesn’t it?”
“What depends on me?” Deke snapped as he stepped over to the bed.
She turned over and glared at him. “My staying here depends on how big of an ass you’re going to be. If there is something wrong, you have to tell me before I can address it with you.”
“Fuck that,” he growled. “I shouldn’t have to ask you anything. I make the rules here, not you.”
Cassie closed her eyes and turned her back to him.
Deke growled and reached for her shoulder. When his hand closed on her upper arm, he grabbed her tightly.
Cassie screamed and swung her arm to push him off of her. Deke clamped down tighter and Cassie came up swinging. One of her punches caught him just right and for a moment, he saw stars. Then she followed with another hard punch and Deke slid down to the floor, out for the count.
Cassie stood over him breathing heavily. For a moment, she’d forgotten where she was and with who. When her rage cleared, she closed her eyes against the pain in her heart. Dropping to her knees, she cupped his cheek tenderly. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean it.” She sobbed.
Pulling a blanket and a pillow off the bed, she covered him up the best she could. Shoving the pillow under his head, she saw the bruise beginning to form on his jaw. Brushing her tears away, she got to her feet and got dressed. Grabbing the suitcase she packed earlier, she made her way out to the parking lot. Getting into her Jeep, she drove toward town.
~* * * *~
Deke groaned and tried to open his eyes. His whole body hurt this morning and he couldn’t remember why. He didn’t think he’d drank too much. He burrowed into his pillow but something felt off. Opening his eyes, he found himself on the floor. “What the fuck?’ he murmured as he sat up. Rubbing his jaw, he hit a sore spot. Then he remembered what happened. He got up and looked at the empty bed where he saw signs of the struggle between him and Cassie the night before. Checking the foot of the bed, he noticed the suitcase was missing and he groaned. Sitting down on the bed, he rubbed his hands over his face. “Fuck, fuck fuck…” he groaned. He glanced at his watch and noted the time. Four a.m. He didn’t remember what time it had been when he came in here, so he didn’t know how much of a head start Cassie had on him. All he knew was that he had to find her and bring her back with him. He also knew she might not want to return.
Deke got up and went into the bathroom to assess the damage. His right jaw was discolored and a bit swollen. Overall, it wasn’t bad but it hurt like hell. He chuckled when he thought about the fact that little girl could do some damage. Yeah, my Spitfire.
He changed his clothes quickly and headed for the door. He pounded on the door to Gator’s cabin and waited for a moment as a light came on.
When Gator answered the door he was rubbing his eyes and dressed in nothing more than his boxers.
“Get your ass dressed Gator, we gotta find her and bring her back,” Deke ordered as he began walking to another cabin. He pounded on the door and when Deacon answered he said, “Get dressed. We gotta find your niece and bring her home again.”
Deacon turned to get his clothes then turned back to Deke. “I’ll go help you find her but if she doesn’t want to come back here to you, I ain’t going to make her. You blew it buddy, I hope you can understand that.”
Deke stepped closer to Deacon and sneered, “She is my woman. She belongs here with me. Don’t try to stop it from happening or you and me are gonna tangle.”
Deacon narrowed his eyes. “She’s been through enough in her lifetime and I’m not gonna sit back and watch you break her again.”
“Just get your ass dressed and help us find her,” Deke ordered as he walked back to the clubhouse.
A few minutes later, both Gator and Deacon joined him.
Reva came through the kitchen door with a pot of coffee and four cups. She poured them and handed them out.
“Where would she go?” Gator asked.
“Do you think she would go back to Boston to be near Peaches?” Deke asked
“Hell, I have no clue,” Deacon grumbled.
“Do you guys have any brains among you?” Reva muttered.
Deke turned stormy eyes to her and asked, “What did you say?”
Reva slammed her cup down on the table and glared at all three of them. “I asked, if you all had a brain among you?” She glared at him.
“Woman…” Gator shook his head.
“Can’t you see what’s right in front of you?” Reva continued. “Maybe you actually can’t, maybe the broken x chromosome that makes you men, takes something away from your brains. Open your eyes man, can’t you see what she’s doing?”
“Apparently not.” Deke glared as he crossed his arms over his chest. “Why don’t you just fucking tell us what we’re missing here and be done with it? We have better things to do that jabber with you.”
Reva straightened her back and glared at him. “Have any of you men tried talking to her? Have you asked her what she wants out of life or have you just assumed she doesn’t have a clue?”
“What are you saying?” Deacon asked.
“I’ve been talking to her since she came here. Getting to know her a little bit better and I’ll tell you boys something, that girl has a good head on her shoulders. She’d have to have one or life would have chewed her up and spit her out a long time ago. Did you know she made sure her and Peaches graduated high school? They had to go to the public library every day and take the courses online but Cassie
made sure they did it. They took their GED test at sixteen. She even took college courses when she had the money. Granted, they were online classes but she proudly told me she was working toward a legal assistant degree. She worked for a legal firm as a paralegal in Albany before Peaches disappeared. They were the kind of law firm that helped the lower class.”
“What does all this have to do with where she went?” Deke asked.
“Gator told me you found her at an old school today.” Reva nodded. “I would check there before running all the way to Boston. If she has something started here, she would want to see it done first.”
Deke studied Reva for a moment. Then nodded. “We can do that.” He turned to grab his jacket then turned back to her to ask, “Do you know what she’s doing at the school?”
Reva shook her head. “No but then I didn’t ask her. I was going to wait until she wanted to talk about it. It’s not my business is it? Ain’t that one of the rules around here? Minding your own fucking business?”
Deke’s lips tightened and his fingers fisted the soft leather of his jacket. Without saying a word, he stomped outside.
A few minutes later, Gator and Deacon joined him and together, they roared off toward Troy.
~* * * *~
The streets were quiet as dawn approached. Cassie was sitting on the roof of the old school house on the west side of town. Her tears were long ago dried and the hollow in her heart was beginning to ease.
She’d been thinking about what happened at the clubhouse tonight and wishing things had happened differently. She hadn’t known how Deke had found out about this place but she wished he would have just asked her, rather than get the wrong idea in his head.
This place had been a dream of hers since she was a girl. So often, she had dreamed of a place like this, a safe house, people in need could come to. A warm place to sleep, with hot food available. And most importantly, a place they could turn to for help.
She heard footsteps coming across the roof toward her and she smiled. “Morning Amos.”
As the older man settled down beside her, he groaned. His feet joined hers over the side of the building. “Damn, it hurts to sit on the ground like this. You’re here awful early, ain’t ya?” He studied her for a moment then asked, “Something wrong baby girl?”
Cassie nodded without looking at him. “Had a fight with my old man last night. He jumped to the wrong conclusions about me and he didn’t give me a chance to explain about this place.”
Amos stretched his hand out carefully, then after a moment, he grabbed her hand and raised it to his lips. Kissing it slightly he asked, “Is that the reason you’re all bruised up? You’re old man?”
Cassie shook her head. “He didn’t attack me on purpose. I kinda got a thing about people touching me. He grabbed me and I kind of lost it for a moment.”
Amos nodded. “Fear can do that to a person, can’t it?”
Cassie nodded and watched as the sun began to peek over the horizon.
“Baby girl, I need to know something.”
Cassie turned her head and watched him. “What’s that?”
Amos cleared his throat. “This place, it has come to mean something to the guys that stay here. Are you gonna finish it? Or did your old man say different?”
Cassie smiled. “It doesn’t matter what he says. He never even asked me about it. This place is my dream, not his. I’ll stay and finish what we started. This place is gonna mean something. It’s not just my dream anymore. It’s our dream, yours, mine, Frankie’s, Jack’s, all of ours. You guys are doing all the work.”
“Hell, baby girl, you’re the one who took a chance on us when nobody else would,” Amos muttered.
Suddenly, the quiet of the night was disturbed by the sound of motorcycles approaching. Cassie and Amos watched as three bikes pulled into the playground area. She saw Deke raise his head to stare at her on the roof.
“That him?’ Amos asked. “Is that your old man?”
“That’s him,” Cassie admitted. “He’s with a friend and my uncle.” Cassie got up slowly, backing away from the edge of the roof before standing.
Amos shook his head and muttered, “That is a big man on a mean bike, all right.” He then joined her and together, they went to the main doors.
As they walked the halls, the other men fell in behind them. Cassie didn’t notice them until she opened the doors and stepped outside. The men behind her all gathered at her back protectively.
“Is this your welcoming committee?’ Deke asked.
Cassie turned and saw all the guys behind her. All of them looked a little rough but willing to stand with her. She couldn’t help but smile. She turned back to Deke. “What do you guys want?”
Deke looked around and could see signs of improvement. Frowning, he began to notice more changes being made to the outside of the building. “What is this place?’ he finally asked.
Amos took a step up and wrapped his arm around Cassie’s shoulder. “This is Redemption House.” He knew the man asking meant the world to Cassie and as much as he hated it, he didn’t want any trouble for her.
“Redemption House?’ Deacon repeated. “What the hell is Redemption House?”
“Why don’t you all come inside and have a look.” Frankie held the door open.
Deke, Gator and Deacon stepped forward.
Amos dropped his arm and stepped back leaving Cassie to lead the way inside.
When they stepped into the building, they could see building materials spread out all over the place. The lobby had tables all over filled with saws and other building equipment on them. The floor had sawdust all over and there were brooms and buckets all over the place.
As they walked down the hallways, the doors to the classrooms stood open. Deke peeked into one room and saw a living area, complete with a bed and a sofa. The colors on the walls were not those of a schoolroom instead, they were softly muted colors.
When they reached the end of the hall Gator asked, “What is going on here?”
“Redemption House is going to be a place where people can start over,” Cassie answered. “A safe house if you like, where people who need another chance can come and get set up. These guys are making the classrooms over into living quarters to hold a person or persons until they can get back on their feet. Eventually, we’ll be able to offer them jobs too, or at least I hope we can.”
“Where did this idea come from?” Deacon asked.
“From me, it was my idea,” Cassie replied.
“Why?” Deke asked.
“Because sometimes, people need a little help when they are down and out. Sometimes, they just need someone to believe in them enough to give them a second chance. Here they can be safe…they can start over if they need to.”
“When did you come up with this idea?” Deke asked as he crossed his arms over his chest.
“When you’re cold and hungry, living off the streets and eating somebody else’s garbage for your supper because it’s the only meal you’ve had that day, you tend to dream a lot,” Cassie whispered. “When me and Peaches were living on the streets of Boston we both had dreams, she wanted a family and I just wanted someplace warm and safe to live. I took care of myself okay but it would have been better if it were safe. There are too many evil people out there. People who would slit your throat for just being in their way.”
“So, how are you funding this? Where is the money coming from?” Gator asked.
“I had this place declared a nonprofit, so some money comes from the city and Peaches’ grandfather donated some and I had some savings.” Cassie motioned toward the guys standing around her. “These guys are doing all the work to refit the rooms and we’re reusing a lot of what came with the school.”
“Why don’t you boys have a look around and see for yourselves what we’re doing here?” Frankie offered.
As everyone moved away, she found herself alone with Deke.
“Why didn’t you t
ell me about this place?” he asked.
“Because this was my dream, not yours.” Cassie stared at him “I didn’t need or desire your permission to do this.”
“Maybe not, but it would have been nice to know about this before tonight.” Deke growled.
“Why? You could have cared less about what I did, unless it interfered with your plans. You have your business to take care of. You made that very clear to me. In the past few weeks, you’ve barely spoken to me. I’m not allowed to ask you about your business, so why should I have to tell you about mine?”
“Damn it, because you’re my woman, that’s why.” Deke roared.
“And just what does that mean to you exactly?” Cassie asked, crossing her arms over her chest.
Deke just stared at her for a moment. “What do you mean…what does that mean?”
“Am I you’re partner? Or just your lover? Hell Deke, I don’t even know if you like me or not. You never talk about how you feel, so how am I supposed to know?” Cassie pushed her hair back away from her face. “We sleep together but we don’t talk. I asked you a couple weeks ago about getting a job and you told me I didn’t have to work, you would take care of me.” She began to pace. “Well, I’ve been taking care of me most of my life. I don’t know any other way. Change is very hard for me. I don’t like it. Ever since I met you, I’m just supposed to let you handle things. But Deke, that’s not who I am.”
“What do you want me to do?” he finally asked. “I can’t let you go. You belong to me.”
“Are you saying that you love me?”
“No,” he retorted. “I don’t do the love thing.”
Cassie felt her heart breaking. She could hardly breathe. “Then I’m nothing more than your whore,” she whispered.
“You’re my woman,” Deke corrected her. “You should be happy with that.”
Cassie shook her head. “I won’t be a whore to anyone. My life means more to me than that.” Taking a step back, she stared at him for a moment, then she turned away and began walking down the hall.
